Monthly Archives: June 2019

Pain in the ProgressThe date is Dec 18, 2018 in Brooklyn, NY at Barclays Center with 26 seconds remaining in the game and the current score: Lakers 107, Nets 110. D’Angelo Russell, with his usual smooth swagger as he dribbles the ball between his legs glancing up at the shot clock. These moments right here are what D’Angelo Russell plays for. Russell knows what is about to happen, along with the nine other players on the court. As a few more seconds tick off the clock, Russell pulls up for a smooth 3 point shot without any hesitation…..BANG! D’ANGELO RUSSELL WITH THE DAGGER!

It was at this moment, I had an overwhelming feeling that D’Angelo Russell was finally becoming what we had all hoped for. That Russell had overcame the external doubt if he could reach his potential, or the negative press associated with him. Russell was showing he is winner, a team player, and on his way to becoming a star. Since the trade that brought Russell to the Brooklyn Nets, I have always hoped Russell would become the star player that the Nets have lacked since Jason Kidd was the point guard for the franchise. I can’t pinpoint why this play against the Lakers felt particularly special, maybe due to it being against the exact team who sent him to Brooklyn, maybe because Lebron James was on the other side, or the iconic “ICE IN MY VEINS” celebration that followed. I can’t necessarily put my finger on it. But it was in this moment that I felt that D’Angelo might be “turning the corner”.

 

As a Nets fan, you build accustom to getting your hopes up and building excitement, only to have it all come crashing down in your face. Have you by chance heard of the trade with Celtics? If not, go look it up… Dark times my friends, dark times. I say this, because even after having such confidence in Russell after this game, I could not help but remain skeptical with concerns of this game just being an outlier and could not be held consistently. I needed MORE to believe in. Need more to believe in? Checkmate, welcome to January 2019:

 

January 14^th: 34 points (7 – 3pt FGM) | 7 assist | 5 rebounds

January 18^th: 40 points (8 – 3pt FGM) | 7assist

 

D’Angelo started the first month of 2019 averaging 24 points and 7 assists on 45.5% shooting and 39.3% from 3 point territory. Now, NOWWW I was believing. I was now full out drinking the D’Angelo Russell Kool-Aid. I was all in for everything D’Angelo Russell. All Star game? He better be there. Most Improved Award? Deserving to be in the conversation. I started going into every game just waiting to see what quarter it would be that Russell would get hot from three and just set the court on fire for that quarter. More often, he were not disappointed in this regard. The cherry on top of it all was the 28 point comeback against the Sacramento Kings. There was no game winner from Russell (thank you Rondae), but we did get to witness a 44 point performance with Russell leading the way. That game alone was special and shown the toughness of the Brooklyn Nets as a whole.

 

So now that we are all reminiscing on the season the Brooklyn Nets had, and specifically D’Angelo Russell, I do this to remind all of us Nets fans of how special of a season we just got to witness this franchise have. This past season was everything a fan would hope for when their team is trying to climb their way out of being a franchise laughing stock. Every quarter that Russell had an explosive quarter. Dinwiddie lit it up off the bench, Joe Harris became one of the best 3 point shooters in the league, Jarrett Allen continued to grow. And finally, Caris Levert rounded back out to full form towards the end of the season.  The league was put on notice.

 

And now….here we are. Free Agency is right within reach. The rumors are flying mad with names such as Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Tobias Harris, Jimmy Butler, and even tricklings of Kristaps Porzingis possibly taking meetings with the Nets organization. No one really knows what is going to happen this summer. Even Coach Kenny Atkinson himself has admitted there will be a very different roster next season. And at the height of it all, is a large possibility the Nets enter next season without the player who was a focal point of such a turnaround season: D’Angelo Russell.

 

In the world of Twitter, the Brooklyn Nets fanbase is in mass disarray at the though of the Nets letting Russell go this summer. How could we let go the player who lead this team’s turnaround and embodied everything Brooklyn has been building? With rumors that Brooklyn is being heavily favored for Kyrie Irving, fans find it hard to wrap their heads around the idea of letting 23 year old Russell go, for 27 year old Irving who has been slammed in Boston for his leadership skills (or lack thereof) with their young team. Fans fear we have Sean Marks making a Billy King-esque move with trying to bring in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant coming off a torn Achilles. I will agree, there is reason to doubt. There is reason to fear these moves. Like I said before, remember the Boston trade? Any big step towards possible contention for Nets fans comes with a side order of anxiety.

 

But remind me, did the Raptors just win a title running back the same squad that had them ranked high in the east year after year? It came out of a tough and highly criticized move in trading DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard. The same Kawhi Leonard who sat out for a season and was criticized for his role as a teammate on the Spurs towards the end of his tenure. Not looking so bad now. And no, that is not to say that is now the new blue print to a championship in this league. But, what we have been shown over and over in this league, that there is so many ways to build a contender in this league. It takes tough decisions. It was a fun and amazing season for the Nets this past year essentially playing with house money when no one expected much from them. Exceeding expectations is fun.

 

But now there are expectations. The Nets are now a playoff team. Big name players are supposed to be considering the Nets as their next team to represent. The Nets are now expected to land a superstar or two. We are in a whole different world than we were 3 seasons ago. A team competing for a championship comes with a whole different level of expectations that the Nets are attempting to steep themselves into.

And with that, comes tough decisions.

And as much as we all loved the season this team just had and all loved to watch Russell and the team as a whole blossom in front of our eyes, when you have championship caliber players knocking on your door, you answer. I think we can all agree that if we lose D’Angelo Russell this summer that it will be a tough blow to the fan base.

But for a franchise trying to enter the championship conversation, you must take the opportunity when it is available. With a summer full of big name free agents considering calling Brooklyn their home, it is safe to say the opportunity is no doubt available now. We have spent quite a few seasons believing and trusting the moves Sean Marks has made (In Marks We Trust, shout out @Flatbushandatlantic), so let’s continue to trust this franchise until proven otherwise. We have heard the world culture used over and over. Why not test it? See if Irving can become a product of his environment, the environment that Marks has preached on building for years now. We can have doubts and be critical. But let’s not go burn down the city and lose our minds…yet.

If this all backfires in a year or two, I will grab the pitch forks with you. But for the time being, let’s take in the moment that in such a short time this team has went from franchise laughing stock to now in the conversation with Kyrie Irving and possibly Kevin freakin Durant. It was a fun breakout year for this young team, but it’s time we all saddle up and prepare for the attempt of making the next step: Championship Contender. We didn’t mortgage our entire future to get here, so I would say we are in a much more comfortable position this time around.

 

It would hurt to see D’Angelo Russell leave Brooklyn this summer. But, with pain comes growth. See you all on the other side of Free Agency.

 

 

• Tyler Minks

@MinksTyler

It is a common refrain that teams do not make deals during the NBA Finals.  A refrain myself, and many others, have expressed.

Not the Nets and Hawks!

The terms of “the trade” have been reported by Adrian Wojnarowski, and supplemented by Zach Lowe.  They are as follows:

-Hawks get: Allen Crabbe, Nets 2019 first rounder at 17, and Nets 2020 first rounder, lottery protected.  If the pick falls in the lottery, the protection rolls into 2021, and then into 2022. If it rolls as far as 2023, then the pick becomes two second rounders

-Nets get: Taurean Prince, Hawks 2021 second round pick

 

Purely in a vacuum (meaning, just the parts of the deal), the Nets, of course, do not “win” the trade. Two first round picks – one in the middle of the first round, and another likely to fall in the 17-25 range, are worth more than Taurean Prince to a team not contending for a championship (which is where the Nets are, as of today).

Alas, to state the obvious, the Nets did not make this deal in a vacuum.  They made it to pursue the top free agents on the market. Before this trade, the Nets, if they renounced every free agent except D’Angelo Russell, had $30.3 million in cap space.  The number now? $47.3 million, with Crabbe’s salary, and the cap hold for the 17th pick, being replaced by Prince’s salary, and one additional incomplete roster charge added to the mix (2 pieces in, 1 piece out).

At $47.3 million in space, the Nets have sufficient cap room to sign Kevin Durant ($38,150,000 is his max), or any other max free agent (the max for the others is $32,700,000).  If the Nets were to renounce Russell, they would have $68.3 million in room, — in excess of the $65.4 million needed to sign two max players not including Durant, although just shy of the $70.85 million necessary to sign Durant and a second max player.  Nevertheless, with a gap that tiny, the Durant/”second max” scenario could easily be achieved by dumping a smaller piece.

The million dollar question? Will this trade work out for the Nets? That depends on one thing: do they connect on their max targets, or not.

As I wrote on Netsdaily.com, I was opposed to trading Crabbe before July 1.  My concern?  That he would be traded at a loss, that the trade would only become a win (albeit a massive one) if the Nets connected in free agency in July, and that, with a deal being done in June, whether the Nets would indeed connect in July would be uncertain at the time of the deal.

I still hold this concern because, as I stated, this trade is a negative in a vacuum, and only converted into a positive through a major free agency or trade haul for a star.

Sean Marks, certainly, has taken a big risk here.  If the Nets do not connect in free agency, they will, combining the Timofey Mozgov deal with this one (that was a similar money dump for 2019 space) have traded two first round picks, and two second round picks, for nothing except Prince, and the ability to sign additional role players in 2019.  With a weak 2020 free agency class, the Nets will have effectively boxed themselves into the middle of the standings, barring a superstar leap from Russell or Caris LeVert, or a superstar acquisition with a non lottery pick.

That would be a deserved black eye on Marks’ resume.  And that Marks chose to acquire Crabbe would magnify said black eye (Andrew Nicholson, if stretched this year, would make close to what Prince will in 2019-2020 — Marks’ Crabbe acquisition is what necessitated this deal with Atlanta in the interests of max cap space.  Mozgov was acquired as the price to get Russell, so Marks cannot be criticized for acquiring him).

As a result, if the Nets strike out on all the big summer catches, then the Nets will have had a bad summer.  A bad summer that would genuinely call into question whether the Nets should have pursued a rebuild through the middle, or whether loading up on high end draft assets these three years and tanking in 2019, with their pick, was wiser.  There is no way around that.

With that said, there is more to the deal — if the Nets connect, rather than strike out, then they will have had a PHENOMENAL summer.  A summer that could transform the franchise into a powerhouse.  A summer that could make this Nets rebuild an example for teams to follow, for years to come.

To start that analysis, it should be noted that Marks has taken steps, at the outset, to mitigate the damage if the Nets strike out.  For starters, Marks paid a lower price to get rid of Crabbe than I suspected.  My sense of the situation was that a young asset or two would be relinquished, with nothing in return except cap space.  The Nets, in lottery protecting the 2020 pick being conveyed, ensured that they would not lose a lottery pick, or established young player, in dealing Crabbe.  I worried that they could lose just that.  While Mozgov was dealt for less, the Nets’ eating Dwight Howard got Charlotte under the tax, which caused a decrease in asset price and made the asset price, in a sense, incomparable.  No such deal was available this go round.

In addition, and as another positive, the Nets gain Prince — as opposed to dealing for a piece like JR Smith only to cut him moments later.  Prince can play.  He has been somewhat up and down in his career, but has shown some flashes of being a strong wing.  He has shot over 38.5% from 3 over the past two seasons.  He has shown he can play good defense, in spurts.  He is rangy.  He got better as the season progressed, fitting in as a valuable piece around Trae Young.  To date, Prince has not shown he can be a consistently reliable playoff rotation player.  But he has all the tools to be that player – the type of rangy, athletic wing who can shoot the 3 and guard multiple positions on the other end.  Teams need as many of those players as they can grab in the modern NBA. If he puts it together, he can be a very valuable role player for the Nets.  Kenny Atkinson has specialized at taking talents like Prince, and molding them into what he needs.  There is genuine hope that Prince can become a critical cog for the Nets — long term.

Prince, it also must be noted, affects this trade in another positive way.  Yes, if the Nets strike out, it would be preferable to have the first round picks, than to have Prince.  In that instance, as many shots at high end talent as possible beats a non star rotation player.  But if they connect, and are a contender in 2019-2020, having Prince — and all he can provide as a strong defender and 3 point shooter at the wing in the playoffs — beats having the first round picks.

Another mitigating factor here?  The Nets, while depleting their assets a touch, may still trade their 2019 27 pick, the protected portion of their 2020 pick (15-30), and all their future picks, because the Stepien Rule only applies looking ahead.  Their ability to be in play for Anthony Davis and other trade targets (if desired) is only slightly altered by this deal.

The final, and largest, mitigating factor here — that part of becoming a great GM is taking risks, and those risks paying off.  This trade could be a precursor to Sean Marks building a powerhouse in Brooklyn.  Pat Riley took a risk in 2010 throwing assets in Biscayne Bay for a shot at the Heatles.  Danny Ainge took a risk dealing for Ray Allen in the hopes it would get Kevin Garnett to say yes.  Masai Ujiri took a chance on Kawhi Leonard, Sam Presti on Paul George.

If this risk works — if Marks is able to use his newfound cap space to lure a superstar to Brooklyn; or to lure two?  Then Marks immediately puts himself in the conversation for executive of the year.  He steps up from a GM who has shown good qualities and can martial a rebuild, into the rarified air of the best GM’s in the sport.  The GM’s who have constructed title contenders – the Daryl Morey’s, the Ujiri’s, the Presti’s.  It takes this rebuild and makes it not just a fun, feel good story, but a model for how teams should rebuild in the future.

Marks constructing a title contender from ash in four years?  That would make the Nets one of the NBA’s preeminent organizations.

As for the “concern” that the Nets could be looking at a payroll with two max players, LeVert and Prince on extensions, and some combination of Russell, Dinwiddie, Harris, and trade targets on big money deals in 2020? If you want to win big, you have to spend big.  And Mikhail Prokhorov and Joe Tsai have quiet the checkbook.

A rebuild, a GM, an organization, ultimately gets judged on its most significant transactions.  How well you do in your largest moves, the moves that chart your course for years to come, defines whether you are successful or not, and to what degree.  That matters way more than counting individual good and bad moves in a vacuum.

Marks, in mortgaging multiple future assets to open a massive amount of 2019 cap space, has just made, arguably, the biggest move of his Nets tenure.  It could result in the Nets having 2 superstars, and the league’s best role players foaming at the mouth to play for them.  It also, if they strike out, could result in the Nets being stuck in the middle, faced with hoping that a non lottery pick, D’Angelo Russell, or Caris LeVert evolves into a tentpole superstar around which a title contender can be constructed.

How the next 35 days go will define this Nets rebuild, and Marks tenure in Brooklyn.